Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment Centers In Vermont

Vermont is a northeastern state with a landscape that is heavily forested. With vibrant foliage in the fall, travelers and tourists alike enjoy Vermont's natural beauty, hiking trails, winter skiing, and covered wooden bridges. Home to just over 600,000 people, Vermont is nestled between New Hampshire and New York and shares its northern border with Canada, the state being situated just south of Montreal and north of Massachusetts.

Substance Abuse in Vermont

The state of Vermont is precariously positioned to the west of New Hampshire and north of Massachusetts, two states that have some of the highest opioid overdose rates in the country. While the rates in Vermont are not high enough to make the top ten in the nation, Vermont has a serious problem with heroin and other opioids.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that the opioid overdose death rate for the state was 18.4 deaths per 100,000 persons in 2016, which was above the national average of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 persons. This rate resulted from a doubling of heroin overdose deaths from 2015 to 2016. Vermont also saw a threefold increase in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl over the same period of time. The heroin and opioid problem in the state of Vermont is not only evident in overdose death rates but also in addiction treatment statistics. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA’s) Behavioral Health Barometer reports a four-year increase in addiction treatment admissions in Vermont, from 4,182 in 2011 to 7,380 admissions in 2015. Additionally, methadone and buprenorphine patients increased over the same time by 34 percent and 32 percent, respectively.

Most recently, the 2017 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) reports that 32.5 percent of all treatment admissions were for heroin as the primary drug of abuse. An additional 16.9 percent of admissions were for other opioids as the primary drug of abuse. Overall, heroin or opioids accounted for nearly half of all addiction treatment admissions.

Addiction Treatment Options in Vermont

Vermont is not home to very many addiction treatment centers and services; however, the few who do operate in the state can offer several types of treatment to accommodate the needs of residents throughout the surrounding areas.

The different levels of care and services accessible in Vermont include: